


Flowers Pressed in Books

by BlueBelleBarrett



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Alternate Universe - Muggle, F/M, James Potter is a Good Friend, M/M, Minor Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter Friendship, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:34:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26732194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueBelleBarrett/pseuds/BlueBelleBarrett
Summary: Lily Evans has heard a lot of stories from her coworker and friend, Remus, about his boyfriend and their friends, but never actually met any of them. And she was perfectly happy to keep it that way, especially after Sirius and James barge into the bookshop where she works and insist on making fools of themselves. She could have gone her whole life without meeting James Potter, thank you very much!In which there are strongly held opinions, expensive diamond bracelets, a Black brothers' reunion, and the shocking revelation that Lily Evans may, in fact, be wrong sometimes, especially about one James Potter.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 3
Kudos: 63





	Flowers Pressed in Books

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!   
> This is my first time posting on AO3, and my first fanfiction in a long time! I love James and Lily's dynamic, so I wanted to try and explore it away from their usual setting. I also love books, and so this AU was born.
> 
> Hope you enjoy! 
> 
> Blue

Lily Evans had had better days in her life. Admittedly, she had also had worse, but somehow, that failed to comfort her as she ran towards her place of employment. She worked at Gryffindor Books, a secondhand bookshop near Charing Cross, and while the owner was usually kind, Mrs McGonagall was not known to hold with tardiness. Lily risked a glance at her wristwatch and cursed, scooting around a group of gossiping housewives who were walking just a little too slowly for her sake. They gave her the collective sort of sniff and glare combination that Lily was used to from her sister, but the appearance of politeness could not matter when her employment was on the line. And so, she ignored the offended middle aged women and dashed through the door of the bookshop with only seconds to spare. She slammed the door behind her with a rather alarming crash, and Remus Lupin looked up from his book. 

Remus was, in Lily’s humble opinion, the second best part about working at Gryffindor. The first was, obviously, the massive number of books she could surround herself with on a daily basis, but her intelligent, mild-mannered coworker was a surprisingly close second. 

“Hmm, almost late,” Remus said, slipping a bookmark in between the pages of his current read. Lily groaned in response. “McGonagall isn’t in today, if that’s your worry,” he continued, brushing imaginary dust off his sage green cardigan as he stood up from his stool behind the register. Lily groaned again, but managed to pull herself away from the door.

“The damn tube was packed this morning,” she grumbled. 

“As opposed to every other morning, then,” Remus grinned. Lily rolled her eyes. 

“You know what I mean.”

“Always do,” Remus called as Lily made her way to the back room. It was a cramped little space, almost half full of boxes of books that couldn’t fit in the storage room, but it had a hook for Lily’s coat and a collection of mismatched chairs and just enough space left over for a tea kettle, so she couldn’t find it in herself to really complain. She pulled off her purse, muttered curses when her long red hair got caught in the buttons of her coat, and rooted around in her bag for her timecard before finally reentering the main floor of the shop. Remus had gone back to his book, and it seemed that no customers had come in while she’d been in the back. 

“Should be a slow day,” Remus commented, not glancing up from his book. “It’s just as well, really.” 

“Oh yeah?” Lily knew what that tone meant. “What’s he done now, then, to put you in a mood?” Remus sighed. Lily was referring, of course, to Remus’ boyfriend, whom she had never met, but might as well have, by the number of stories she’d heard. She knew his name was Sirius, that he was old money, that he was very good-looking, if Remus did say so himself, and that he liked to ride around causing trouble with a motorbike and a leather jacket. She might have wondered why Remus would take up with such a boy, but he and two other boys had all been school friends with Remus, and she imagined that rooming together at a prestigious boarding school in Scotland probably had a unifying effect on otherwise disparate personalities. She suspected it had to do with the ridiculous hats. 

“Does it always have to be Sirius’ fault when I’m moody?” Remus asked, snapping her away from her contemplation of boater hats. 

“No, but it usually is.” Remus gave her a rueful little smile. 

“Right you are, I suppose,” he admitted. “Sirius doesn’t get on with his family, you know, hasn’t since he was at school.” Lily nodded; she’d heard all about the Black scion’s contentious rebellion against his stuffy parents. “Well, he got a letter.”

“That hardly seems out of the ordinary,” Lily prodded, pulling herself up to sit on the counter beside him.

“It normally wouldn’t be, but this wasn’t a letter from his parents, but rather, from his younger brother. Regulus, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned him before.” Lily shrugged, because she couldn’t remember if he had, but she did know enough about London politics to know who Regulus Black was. “It seems he wants to reconnect with his brother,” Remus added, quietly. Ah. That was the issue, then. 

“And Sirius doesn’t want to, I take it?” Lily surmised. Remus gave her a funny look, half-amused and half-puzzled. 

“No, he doesn’t.”

“Well,” Lily huffed, “I hardly see why that’s your problem. Sirius is free to choose to do as he likes. He is an adult, after all.”

“He’s supposed to be,” Remus allowed, affection creeping into his voice. Sirius was a consummate prankster, as Lily understood it, but Remus seemed to find it endearing instead of irritating. She wrinkled her nose. 

“Right, so, supposed adult, independent decisions, all you can really do is support him,” she concluded. Remus sighed, shaking his head. 

“Why are you so wise, Lily Evans?”

“A natural gift, I suppose,” Lily smirked back, hopping down off the counter where she was perched. The bells over the door tinkled, and an older man wandered in with a slightly concerned look on his face. Lily smiled at Remus, then went to actually do her job. 

Lily was closing that evening, and as Remus had opened the shop, he would be leaving before her. She didn’t really think anything of that until around three in the afternoon, almost an hour before the end of Remus’ shift, when the door was practically knocked off its hinges and two boys strode into the shop like they owned it. The first boy was very tall, with long, sleek dark hair and mirrored aviator glasses that he hadn’t taken off, even though he was inside. He was dressed in a black leather jacket and ripped jeans and heavy work boots that looked too polished to be anything more than a fashion statement. He was wearing a Clash t-shirt under his jacket, though, so Lily couldn’t say she entirely disapproved. The second boy was shorter than his friend, but his wild black hair almost made up for the difference in height. He was more sensibly dressed in a striped shirt and bell bottom jeans, but the way his hazel eyes glinted behind thin-framed glasses seemed to suggest that his clothing choice might be the only sensible thing about him. 

“Sirius, James,” came Remus’ voice as he peeked out from behind the bookshelf he’d been stocking, “What are you two doing here?” 

“Moony, my darling,” the taller of the two boys purred, planting his hands on his hips, “Can’t a man pick up his boyfriend from work?” 

“Not when said man is an hour early.” 

“Oh, so you’re Sirius,” Lily blurted out, unable to help herself. She immediately bit her lip as both boys turned their attention on her. 

“Oh yes, kitten, I am,” Sirius said, propping up on the counter in front of her and giving her a charming grin. Lily hummed. 

“Yes,” she said, nodding to herself, “That makes total sense.” Remus snorted with laughter from his position behind the shelf. Sirius whipped off his aviator’s, revealing grey eyes and the top half of an aristocratic face that quickly resolved itself into an expression of melodramatic offense. 

“Have you been speaking ill of me, Moony?” he gasped, clutching at his chest. “Whatever sordid tales you have heard, my lovely lady, I assure you, they are not true.” 

“Huh,” Lily replied, flicking her hair over her shoulder, “Strange how you assume my opinion of you is negative. Makes it pretty clear what kind of stories there are about you, if what you think Remus has said would be so awful.” The other boy burst into laughter.

“She’d got you there, Pads,” he managed, thumping Sirius on the shoulder. “I’m James, by the way,” he added, after he got his laughter under control. “James Potter.”

“Lily Evans.” James Potter smirked at her, his hazel eyes sparkling. 

“Lily Evans,” he repeated, throwing an arm around Sirius’ shoulder. “Remus didn’t tell us he worked with such a babe.” The thwack that came after was most likely Remus’ palm slapping against his face. Lily glowered. If there was one thing she hated, absolutely hated before anything else, it was being hit on. It irritated her in a way that didn’t even make sense to her. 

“Well, maybe,” she bit out, “That’s because Remus thinks of me as a person instead of a babe.” 

“Wow,” Sirius said, “Is it just me or did the temperature in here just drop?” Lily glowered at him too. 

“Hey, look now,” James said, holding his hands up like he was trying to calm her down. “You’re a beautiful bird, no need to get upset. It was a compliment.” 

“Really.” Lily glared at James Potter, her green eyes narrowed. James gave a hesitant grin and nodded. “Undoubtedly,” she drawled, looking him up and down in a way that could, under no circumstances, be mistaken for flattering. Sirius was backing away from the counter now in almost comical slow motion. James was staring at her, mouth a little bit open and eyes wide, like he couldn’t believe a woman would have the nerve to talk back to him. 

“Why don’t you wait at the cafe?” Remus interjected suddenly, a rather uncomfortable look on his face. Sirius seemed to jump at the chance to escape the bookshop and the now-tense atmosphere. 

“Right-o, Jimmy-boy,” he yelped, grabbing James by the shoulders and pushing him towards the door, “You heard Moony, to the cafe with us for tea and treats and all manner of sundry goods. Oh yes, spot of tea, that’s what we need, nothing like a good cuppa, some scones and jam if they’ve got them, all proper cafes must have jam for scones, you like jam, don’t you, Jimmy-Jammy-James, my pal, let’s go!” The last thing Lily saw as Sirius pulled his friend out the door towards the cafe down the road was James, still staring at her. She huffed. 

“He didn’t mean it like that,” Remus said, using his soothing-people voice. Lily tossed her hair. 

“I don’t care if he did or didn’t,” she snapped, “It was impolite and he should apologize.” Remus snorted.

“Fat chance of that,” he muttered, “James Potter, apologize?” He glanced over at Lily. “I wouldn’t count on it,” he concluded. 

“It’s not a big deal if he doesn’t,” she said, “As I’ll probably never see him again.” 

Famous last words, as it turned out, because James and Sirius seemed to become obsessed with not only picking Remus up from work, but dropping him off, and occasionally stopping in to check on him, too. In the seven months since Lily started working at Gryffindor Books, she had never once seen either of them, but now, she couldn’t seem to go a day without seeing at least one of the two. It was beginning to get very, very annoying. Lily saw no point in hiding her irritation, but that didn’t seem to dissuade the two in the slightest. To make matters worse, James Potter had taken to trying to flirt with her every time he saw her, and it had grown so inescapable after two weeks that she had actually stopped hiding in the back whenever she saw the troublesome duo burst through the door. 

“Hey, Evans,” James said, leaning against the counter in a way he probably thought was sexy. Lily hummed, but didn’t look up from the books she was marking with price stickers. “Want to go out sometime?” he continued. Lily stopped, sighed, and put down her price gun. 

“No, Potter,” she replied, “Not if you were the last man on Earth.” James only grinned. Lily was beginning to wonder if rejection did something for him, and wrinkled her nose at the idea. 

“Well,” he said, reaching into his back pocket, “I have something that might change your mind.” He placed a slim velvet box on the counter and pushed it towards her. Reluctantly, Lily picked it up. The velvet was a deep red, and the whole box was just smaller than her palm. She gave James Potter a suspicious stare. He only grinned back, which somehow failed to reassure her, but she opened the box anyway. When she saw what was inside, she couldn’t help but gasp. It was a diamond tennis bracelet, the white diamonds sparkling even in the grey light of the bookshop, set in yellow gold, and quite obviously hideously expensive. Lily felt her chest tighten. Her jaw clenched. 

“How dare you,” she spat, closing the box with a sharp snap. “You must think I’m desperate, that I’m some sort of-of-of gold digger, some shallow bint who’s only interested in money, if you think my mind can be changed by diamonds.” She shoved the box into his chest, ignoring the rather stunned look on his face. She picked up the price gun and waved it threateningly. “I’m not so easily won,” she warned, before flicking her hair over her shoulder and stomping off to the back room, leaving a flabbergasted James in her wake. 

The audacity of him! Lily fumed as she set the kettle to boil. How dare he! Just because her family was working class and she worked in a bookshop didn’t mean she wanted any of his mouldy old family money. She opened the tea tin angrily, muttering under her breath about pompous pricks and ridiculous gifts. She vowed not to leave the back room until that arrogant menace was long gone. Really! She was certain she’d never been more offended in her life, honestly, not even when she’d gone to dinner with Petunia and her fiance and the awful man had told her that she was underdressed for the restaurant he’d chosen. Lily sat down with her mug in hand, determined to hate James Potter until the end of time. 

“He didn’t mean to offend you,” Remus said as soon as she emerged from the back room. He was sitting behind the counter, having picked up marking prices where Lily had left off. “He just doesn’t know any better. I think he meant the bracelet as some sort of apology,” he added, a thoughtful look on his face. Lily scoffed.

“He never actually apologized, though,” she pointed out, “And in fact, only made it worse.” Remus grimaced.

“Yes, James has a rather unfortunate tendency to do things like that. My theory is that it’s because he’s spoiled.” 

“You can say that again.”

“I don’t mean in the normal way,” Remus said, scratching his head. “His parents, they always wanted a child. But they couldn’t have one, try though they might, and all the doctors said it was hopeless and that they should give up trying. But then they had James.” Remus shrugged. “He’s their miracle baby, and well, I think the Potters would have been indulgent anyway, but that made it so much worse.” 

“You’re not doing anything to make him look better, Remus,” Lily pointed out. Remus smiled, his eyes crinkling up at the corners.

“I’m not trying to,” he laughed, “I know better than that. But underneath the arrogance and the jokes, he’s a good person.” Remus glanced down. “You know I was a scholarship student at Hogwarts, right? A charity case.” Lily nodded. She’d heard the story; brilliant young Remus Lupin from a poor background with a chronic illness that left him weak, winning a scholarship to the prestigious public school. “Well, James Potter was my first friend. He didn’t care that I wasn’t like him, that my family didn’t have money, or that I was sick so often. He was so eager to be my friend anyway.” Remus smiled and shook his head, and for a moment, Lily could almost see a tiny James Potter, smiling encouragingly at a young Remus Lupin. She sighed. No, no, what was she thinking? She focused on the look on Potter’s face earlier that day, shocked that she wouldn’t take thousands of pounds worth of diamonds from a man she barely knew. Remus was looking at her with that same amused expression, like he knew exactly what she was thinking. 

“I’d better go,” he said, standing up, “I’m supposed to be meeting Sirius for tea.” Lily nodded, waving her hand absentmindedly. “He’s not all bad,” Remus added as he made for the back room. Lily only scrunched her nose up in response. 

Lily didn’t open Gryffindor Books often, but she always enjoyed it when she did. She liked the quiet of the bookshop when there was no one else in it but her. McGonagall only entrusted her and Remus with the keys to open, but Remus took evening classes at the university, so he got to open most days. Lily sighed as she went to unlock the door for the start of business. Remus would be in later, and he would undoubtedly be accompanied by his troublemaking shadows. She shook her head. That could wait. She’d start her day with a cup of Darjeeling, her favorite, and not worry about James Potter until she had to.

The bells over the door jingled, and Lily glanced up. For a moment, she wondered when Sirius had cut his hair. But oh, this wasn’t Sirius. The boy who had entered the shop was far too...well, serious. She wrinkled her nose at her own pun, but she didn’t think it was wrong. He looked an awful lot like Sirius, tall and dark-haired, with aristocratic features and the same odd grey eye colour. But this boy had short hair, and a leaner frame, and was far less obnoxiously dressed, in his black slacks and grey pea coat. He did look a bit lost, though.

“Excuse me,” Lily called, “Can I help you?” The boy looked startled by her voice, his eyes widening. 

“Oh, um,” he stuttered, “Yes, please. I was looking for a Remus Lupin?” 

“Right,” Lily said, biting her lip. “He’s not in.” 

“Oh, I see,” the boy seemed uncomfortable, shifting in his polished black Oxfords. Lily decided to take pity on him. 

“He will be, later,” she said. “He ought to be here in an hour or so.” The boy smiled shyly at her. 

“Thank you, Miss….”

“Evans,” she supplied, “Lily Evans. I work with Remus.” 

“Oh,” the boy said, pulling off his black leather gloves and sticking a pale hand out for her to shake. “I’m Regulus Black.”

“So you’re Sirius’ brother,” Lily blurted out, and watched as Regulus’ face made a strange grimace that was almost trying to be a smile.

“Yes,” he admitted, “You know my brother?”

“Unfortunately,” Lily laughed, rolling her eyes. Regulus smiled at her, a little stronger this time. “No offense, but he can be a proper pain in the arse.”

“I don’t know that anything about Sirius could be considered proper,” Regulus muttered, and Lily laughed. Regulus seemed surprised, but also rather pleased. He was nothing like his brother, Lily decided, and that was probably a good thing, in her book. Before she could respond, though, the door was practically knocked out of the frame, and Sirius strode into Gryffindor Books, followed by Remus and then James. 

“Hullo, Lils, how’s the morning-” the words died in Sirius’ throat when he caught sight of his younger brother. Regulus was hunched over, drawing into himself slightly, Lily noticed, in a way that made him seem shorter than his brother, even though she was fairly certain he wasn’t. An awkward silence fell over the floor. Lily glanced at Remus, whose eyes had gone very wide. Sirius kept opening his mouth like he was about to say something, and then closing it again. James was lurking near the door, watching Sirius with keen hazel eyes. 

“I have to go,” Sirius muttered, breaking the silence. He turned on his heel and fled. Regulus sighed as he watched his brother run away from him, but didn’t say anything to stop him. James took off after Sirius, and Lily could see him catch up to the Black scion a little ways down the street. Remus sighed. 

“I probably should have warned him,” he said, scratching his head. 

“It wouldn’t have made a difference,” Regulus said glumly. Lily, personally, felt that Regulus had a point. 

“It might’ve,” Remus defended. Regulus gave him a strange look. 

“My brother has always been stubborn, Mr Lupin,” he said, pulling his gloves out of his coat pocket. “You of all people should know that.” 

“Sirius can be a bit...spirited,” Remus allowed. Lily snorted. That was not the word she would have used. Regulus sighed. 

“I should go.” Remus’ shoulders sagged. 

“I’m sorry,” Remus said, “I thought he would at least be willing to listen.” Regulus gave him a bitter sort of smile.

“I never had too much hope,” Regulus said, “It isn’t your fault.” He turned to leave, but before he could, James pulled a rather reluctant looking Sirius back into the bookshop. Admittedly, James had a rather tight grip on the back of Sirius’ leather jacket, but the fact the elder of the Black brothers was there at all was a testament to how convincing James could be. Lily frowned at him, not sure what to make of this development. 

“Sirius is gonna talk to you,” James said, gesturing towards Regulus with his free hand. “In the cafe, down the road. You’ve got an hour.” James gave a rather hard look to Sirius, who nodded and jerked himself free of his friend’s grasp. 

“C’mon, Reggie,” he mumbled, eyes downcast, “We might as well go. Been a long time since I’ve seen my baby brother, after all.”

“Not a baby,” Regulus retorted in a rather petulant tone. Sirius glanced up, a smirk creeping over his mouth at his brother’s put-out expression. 

“Baby of the family,” Sirius retorted. Regulus huffed and turned up his nose. He looked offended, but Lily noticed that he’d squared his shoulders a bit, and was standing taller. She glanced at James, who was too absorbed in the unfolding scene to notice. Hmm. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all, she admitted as Sirius slung an arm over his brother’s shoulders. It seemed as though the Black brothers were long overdue on a heart-to-heart, and if James managed to convince Sirius to do it, well. More power to him. Lily glanced over at Remus, who was watching her with that amused expression again. She blushed. Only a little. 

As much as Lily didn’t want to admit it, she was curious. James Potter had acted, in her opinion, very out of character when he basically forced Sirius to talk to his brother, but based on the fact that Sirius had stopped coming around so much because he was meeting up with Regulus, it seemed to have been for a good cause. Furthermore, Remus didn’t even seem surprised by James’ actions when she brought it up to him!

“I told you,” Remus sighed, “He’s a good person, underneath all his prattish habits.” Lily scoffed. No way was that the whole explanation. 

“I don’t understand why he needed to interfere with Sirius’ business,” she said, feeling particularly petulant. 

“They’re brothers,” Remus explained, “And James has strong feelings about brothers. He’s very loyal, you know, when he cares about people. I’d say it’s even one of his defining traits.” Lily raised her eyebrow and Remus rolled his eyes. “Okay, if you don’t believe me, next time you see James, ask him about Peter Pettigrew. Listen to what he says.” Lily bit her lip. Peter Pettigrew, huh? Well, maybe she would take Remus’ advice, but that didn’t answer all of her questions. 

“Okay, that’s all well and good,” she waved her hand dismissively, “But it doesn’t explain why he keeps coming around here even though Sirius is busy. The other day, he even came in when you weren’t here, and it was just the two of us! Why would he do that?” Remus was staring at her incredulously, giving her the distinct impression that she was missing something. 

“Some things are beyond hope,” he muttered, shaking his head as he sifted through the day’s receipts. Lily didn’t know what he meant by that, but felt rather offended, regardless. 

She got a chance to ask James about Peter Pettigrew the very next day, when James turned up, alone, on a day when Remus wasn’t even working. Instead, Marlene McKinnon, one of their other coworkers, was manning the till while Lily was sorting through new arrivals to be shelved in the fantasy section. She heard Marlene talking, and looked up when James’ scruffy Converse trainers came into view. 

“Lily of my heart,” he said, grinning down at her. 

“Potter of my nightmares,” she replied, but she gave him a little bit of a smile. Against her will, mind you, and also her better judgement. James clutched his chest.

“You wound me,” he groaned, melodramatic as ever. Lily rolled her eyes and stood up.

“Remus isn’t working today,” she told him. 

“Yeah, I know,” he shrugged. “I was in the area and stopped by to ask you, the light in my darkest night, if you’d go out with me.” Lily scoffed. He asked her out every time he saw her; she was beginning to suspect it was something of a game to him. 

“No, Potter,” she replied, as always, “Not in a million years.” James threw a hand over his face and pretended to be distraught and Lily had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. 

“Nevertheless,” he sobbed, “I shall persevere!” 

“I wish you wouldn’t.”

“How cruel a mistress my heart has chosen. I should have tried it on with Remus instead.”

“Sirius would deck you,” Lily shook her head. “Oh, that reminds me. Remus told me to ask you about Peter Pettigrew?” James stilled, looking serious for once. 

“Why would he say that?”

“Well, obviously I don’t know. I was asking him about why you went to such effort to force Sirius to talk to Regulus, and he said to ask you about a Peter Pettigrew.” James sighed, and plopped down on the floor near where Lily was kneeling. 

“Yeah,” he muttered, running a hand through his already messy hair, “I guess that makes sense.” He glanced up at her, his hazel eyes sharp behind their rectangular frames. “First of all, I convinced Sirius to give Regulus a chance because it was the right thing to do. They were close before Hogwarts, you know? And I didn’t think it was right to let the Black family pretentions get between two brothers. It didn’t seem fair.” Lily thought of Petunia and her painfully clean house in a painfully suburban neighborhood, obsessed with painfully middle class values, and nodded; that was something she could understand. 

“That makes sense,” she admitted, “And I guess...sometimes we don’t know what’s best for ourselves. You and Sirius are so close, so I suppose you know him better than he knows himself. That’s almost noble.” 

“Nah, Pads is just stubborn,” James waved off the compliment, a flush climbing into his cheeks. He drew his knees into his chest and rested his chin on them. “I guess you know that Remus and Sirius and I were all friends at school.” He glanced at Lily, who hummed in acknowledgement. “Well, we had another friend, a fourth member of our little group, if you want to call it that. That’s Peter Pettigrew. I don’t know if you know, but Sirius and I actually studied Law at university.” 

“Law?” Lily interrupted. It was hard to think of mischievous James Potter in a courtroom, never mind wild-haired, punk-music-fan Sirius. James laughed. 

“I guess that’s a fair reaction,” he admitted. “We wanted to change the world,” he continued, a wistful tone creeping into his voice. “In our third year of university, we were put in contact with Alastor Moody, he runs a big law firm, does all kinds of human rights cases and advocacy against corruption in big business firms. Our old Headmaster, from Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore, he put in a good word for Sirius and I, and we ended up being interns. Well, we brought Remus and Peter with us, ‘cause they were looking into a possible case at this investment firm, the Walpurgis Group.” James gave Lily a look that was probably supposed to be significant, but Lily had been a Literature and Philosophy student, and definitely had never heard of Walpurgis. James shook his head and grinned. “Anyway, Peter was a finance student, and he was helping with obtaining tax returns and that kind of thing. We think it’s gonna be a big case, even Moody was getting antsy about it. But then, when we go and try to bring them to court, their CEO has a counter prepared for every argument, things he should have no way of producing. We lose.” James took a deep breath and frowned. “It turned out, Pettigrew had betrayed us. He’d gone to the Walpurgis CEO, that bastard Tom Riddle, and told him what we were planning.” James scoffed and rubbed his hands over his eyes under his glasses. “And Peter wasn’t even sorry. Said he needed the money and that Sirius and I would never understand.” 

“I’m sorry,” Lily said. She didn’t know what else to say. Betrayal was never a comfortable thing. James gave her a sideways little smile.

“Thanks,” he said quietly. “That whole incident...it made it clear how important loyalty is, and how influential money and power can be on what I thought were good people. So if Regulus wants to reconnect with his brother, even when he’s risking losing status in the family,” James shrugged, “I think Sirius should at least hear him out.” Lily stared at him. It felt like she was seeing someone utterly different from the boy who had first insulted her that morning not so long ago. She wasn’t sure what to think of it all. She bit her lip. 

“Lily!” Marlene called from behind the counter. “I need you to go check on a book, please!” Lily leapt up, giving James an apologetic look. He grinned.

“You gotta go, Lilyflower,” he said as he hauled himself up. 

“Yeah.” She noticed for the first time exactly how much taller than her James was; she had to tilt her head back to look him in the eye. “Thank you,” she blurted out, “For telling me all of that.” James smiled at her.

“Any time, Lilyflower.” 

Despite Remus’ assurances of closure, Lily’s conversation with James only gave her more to think about. Could she have possibly been wrong about him this entire time? The expectant looks Remus kept giving her whenever James was around seemed to say yes, yes she could. Lily chewed on her lower lip while she thumbed through the book in front of her. Remus was giving her side eye from the other side of the counter, where he was arranging the bookmark display. 

“Did you talk to James?” he asked casually. Lily nodded. “And?” he prompted.

“I don’t know!” she burst out. “I thought I knew him, but then you said he was not at all like I thought he was, and I thought you were dead wrong, but then I did what you said and I talked to him and turns out, surprise, surprise, Lily Evans is dead wrong after all!” She heaved a little at the end of her rant. Remus laughed. 

“I know it must be shocking for you to be wrong,” he drawled, “But I did tell you.” Lily huffed and wrinkled her nose at him. “I’m glad you’re seeing the real him, though,” he added, earnestly this time. Lily shrugged, playing with a piece of her long red hair. 

“Yeah,” she mumbled, “I guess so.” Remus narrowed his eyes at her.

“You don’t play with your hair, Lily,” he started, but was interrupted by Marlene.

“Yeah, she totally does,” came the blonde girl’s voice from the door to the back room. “But,” Marlene added smugly, “Only when she’d got a crush. So,” she trotted up to prop her elbows on the counter and waggle her eyebrows at Lily. “Who’s the lucky bastard?” 

“My best friend,” Remus informed her.

“Ooh,” Marlene crowed, “the super fit one with the specs? Good choice, Lils.” Marlene hip-checked her and Lily tried her best not to blush.

“He doesn’t even like me!” 

“He doesn’t come down here, asking you out every day for fun, you know,” Remus snorted. “It’s okay to admit you have a crush on him.”

“I do not have a crush on James Potter!” she yelped. The bells over the door tinkled, and Lily had never been more glad to see Sirius Black in all her life. And, he was alone. Even better. She was not prepared to face James Potter just yet.

“Who has a crush on Prongsie?” Sirius asked, cocking his head to the side in a manner that always reminded Lily of an inquisitive puppy. She retracted her previous relief.

“Lily does,” Remus said, “Apparently.” Lily gasped. The traitor.

“Oh ho!” Sirius exclaimed, planting his hands on his hips. “Jamsie finally wear you down, eh, Evans?” 

“Are you people deaf? I said I don’t have a crush on James Potter!” Marlene clicked her tongue.

“No use in lying to yourself, doll,” she said, patting Lily’s head. 

“Ugh!” Lily cried, letting her head fall onto the counter with a thump. Some much for friends.

Despite her frustration with her friends and coworkers, Lily couldn’t help but admit that they were right, after all. She had to admit, if only to herself, that James was not at all like she’d thought, and that the new James, the real one, was exactly the kind of guy she liked best. How frustrating. She was dwelling on this, alone in the shop, only half an hour before closing time. Marlene had gone home an hour earlier, leaving Lily to close up by herself. It had been a slow, dreary sort of Wednesday, and she was looking forward to going home, taking a bath, and maybe having a nice cup of Darjeeling before ordering a takeaway and falling asleep in front of the telly. Her blissful planning was ruined by the jingle of bells. She sat up, shaking out her hair, as James Potter stepped through the door. He grinned at her.

“Hi, Lily,” he said, and Lily frowned. A normal greeting, from James Potter? Very suspicious. He was holding two steaming takeaway cups from the cafe down the road. “I brought you this,” he said, holding up one of the cups. She took it, hesitantly, and sniffed it. Huh. Darjeeling, if she wasn’t mistaken. She took a sip. No, definitely Darjeeling, with one sugar and lots of milk, just the way she liked it. 

“Thanks,” she said. James smiled and ran his now-free hand through his hair. 

“I wanted to apologize,” he said, a blush forming high on his thin cheeks. “For the bracelet, I mean,” he winced, “And also for offending you when we first met. Um, Remus told me how you like your tea, I hope you don’t mind, but I thought it would be better than the previous attempt. So, yeah. I’m sorry.” Lily stared. James Potter had apologized to her, and it had made him blush. She set down her cup. 

“Apology accepted,” she managed. James grinned. 

“Great,” he said, clearly relieved that it had gone well. “I was worried you wouldn’t, you know…” he gestured randomly, “Accept it?” 

“Is that a question?” Lily laughed. James pulled a face.

“I guess?” Lily laughed again. James was even a little ridiculous when he was trying to be sincere, but she found she rather liked it. She bit her lip. She thought about what Remus had said, that James didn’t ask her out for fun. He was currently ducking his red face into his scarf and avoiding her eyes, so maybe Remus had a point. 

“Hey, James,” she said, gathering her nerve. He looked up. “You wanna go out with me sometime?” she asked. James blinked owlishly from behind his glasses. 

“Are you serious?” he asked. 

“No,” she smirked, “Just Lily.” James stared for a second then groaned, clapping a hand over his forehead. 

“I was going to say yes,” he moaned, “But then you made that joke and now I don’t know if I can.” Lily scrunched up her nose, fighting the blush that rose in her cheeks. 

“Well, how about if I promise to never make another name-based pun in your presence?” she asked, leaning over the counter. James stepped forward, so his face was only a few centimeters away from hers. 

“I suppose I can accept those terms,” he said, glancing down at her mouth. With a sudden rush of courage, Lily leaned forward and closed the gap between them. There was such a head rush, she realized, that came with simply pressing her lips against James Potter’s. She pulled back. James was staring at her, a little smile playing around the corners of his mouth. She found she wanted to kiss that smile, and so, she did.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you liked and didn't, what worked or what you'd do differently, or a general opinion on the obstinance of Lily Evans. I'm a little nervous about posting for the first time, so I'd love some feedback.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Blue


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